BRIDGE Energy Group Survey Finds Majority of Utilities Struggling to Meet New Cyber Security and Protection Mandates

MARLBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwired - Oct 7, 2015) - BRIDGE Energy Group, today announced results from the company's 4th annual Utility Industry Survey on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP). As of mid-2015 over 20,000 utility executives, managers and engineers polled showed 68 percent of them believed that their organization is not "well prepared" for NERC CIP v5 compliance. Full survey results here: bit.ly/1QfxLHI.

Tweet this: .@BRIDGEEnergyGrp #Utility Survey bit.ly/1QfxLHI shows 68% of #utilities not yet prepared for #NERC CIP v5 April 2016 #compliance

BRIDGE Energy Group's 4th annual utility survey reveals utility companies current readiness state with regards to the NERC CIP v5 Compliance, April 2016 deadline. Most notable was that 78 percent of utilities surveyed indicated a lack of knowledgeable resources as the top issue inhibiting their CIP v5 compliance preparations. Other survey findings include:

• 30 percent of utility organizations didn't have a compliance implementation strategy in place as of January 2015
• 69 percent rank current tools or systems limitations and integration of systems as top project impediments
• 75 percent of Utilities have operations personnel and 25 percent of Utilities have IT personnel leading the NERC CIP readiness efforts
• 55 percent of utilities are using/used outside consultants for CIP v5 compliance preparation efforts

"Our survey respondents indicated that they were struggling with the operational and management issues that surround the confluence of operational and information technologies that control our bulk electric system," said Richard Jones, VP of Cybersecurity at BRIDGE Energy Group. "Some utilities have already had multiple changes in management accountability for NERC CIP v5 compliance preparation. As the organization moves from design to substation implementation, maintaining strong governance of these efforts will be a key success factor to meeting the April 2016 compliance deadline."

Jones will be presenting BRIDGE's compliance methodologies during a lightning round at the GridSecCon 2015, October 13-16 at the Hilton Regency in Philadelphia and will also be available to answer questions regarding the survey at that time. The full NERC CIP Survey Results Summary report can be requested by contacting Research@BridgeEnergyGroup.com or downloaded by visiting bit.ly/1QfxLHI.

To improve your company's operational performance with grid reliability, transformation, security and management expertise contact BRIDGE Energy Group at 1.888.351.8999 or via email: info@BridgeEnergyGroup.com.

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About BRIDGE Energy Group
BRIDGE Energy Group is the leading consulting and systems integration company focused on improving utility operational performance. BRIDGE combines business, OT and IT domain expertise to deliver and optimize innovative grid operations solutions. BRIDGE's capabilities and expert services enable engagement at any stage in the lifecycle, from strategy & regulatory to implementation & optimization. Founded in 2004, BRIDGE is headquartered in Marlborough, MA. For more information on BRIDGE, please contact 888-351-8999 or visit www.BridgeEnergyGroup.com.